Jan. 26, 2026, 11:21 a.m. ET

The Brooklyn Nets (12-32) came into this five-game, west-coast road trip hoping to be on the same page after experiencing one of the worst losses in franchise history at the New York Knicks. Brooklyn began their road trip with a tough matchup at the Los Angeles Clippers (21-24) and the Nets weren’t able to recover after losing the first quarter by 24 points.

The Nets lost at the Clippers on Sunday 126-89 and this was one of the worst losses of the season thanks to how Los Angeles came out with some fire to begin the game. Rookie forward Danny Wolf led the way for Brooklyn with 14 points and seven rebounds while rookie guard Egor Demin had 12 points and five assists in the same game that potential All-Star forward Michael Porter Jr. had just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting from the floor.

The Nets struggled mightily on both ends of the floor, but they notably struggled to bother Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard as he finished the game with 28 points and five rebounds in just 25 minutes. Brooklyn has four games left on their west-coast road trip so here are three Nets takeaways from Sunday’s blowout loss at the Clippers:

Michael Porter Jr. Struggles Again

This has been a rough month for Porter as while he’s averaging 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.1 steals per game, he is also shooting just 42.9% from the field and 34.0% from behind the three-point line. Porter finished this game shooting just 3-of-11 from the floor and 0-for-4 from deep as he continues to adapt to opposing defenses forcing him to either take tough shots or create for his teammates.

Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!Brooklyn’s Defense Has Cratered

After finished December was the best defensive rating in the league, Brooklyn has their defense falter to the point that they’re now the second-worst in terms of defensive rating (121.7) in the month of January. More to the point, the Nets now have the worst net rating in the league (-13.9), showing just how much of a struggle this month has been for the rebuilding franchise.

Nets Have To Make A Decision

With the way this month has gone, the Nets have to figure out what team they want to be and head coach Jordi Fernandez said as much after this loss. “It’s those are the things we can control, and we didn’t. We have to decide who we want to be, and it starts with everybody’s focus and effort,” Fernandez said after the game when discussing what he is seeing from his players at this time in the season.